The Haitian Senate’s Superior Court of Accounts released findings in February 2019 that provided the most detailed public accounting yet of how PetroCaribe funds had allegedly been misused over more than a decade. The report named dozens of officials and private sector figures and described a systematic pattern of corruption that touched multiple administrations and sectors of Haitian public life.
According to the report, the misuse of funds took several forms: projects that received full disbursements but were never completed, contracts awarded without competitive bidding to politically connected firms, invoices submitted for work that was never performed, and direct diversion of funds to private accounts. The total amount alleged to have been misappropriated ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Among the most politically sensitive findings were those involving entities connected to current and former government officials. The report described a pattern in which political connections rather than competence or competitive pricing determined who received lucrative PetroCaribe-funded contracts.
The report’s release reignited public anger and provided fresh ammunition for protest organizers who had been demanding accountability since the movement began. Legal experts debated whether the findings would be sufficient to trigger criminal prosecutions, while opposition politicians called for an independent judicial investigation with powers to subpoena witnesses and freeze assets.